Back from top study hubs in Covid-19 wake, teachers from Bihar plan to stay

Back from top study hubs in Covid-19 wake, teachers from Bihar plan to stay

Dhiraj Kumar Mishra has taught at coaching institutes in Kota and Bengaluru. "I had started teaching in Patna, but was not getting a good salary. I left for Kota and started getting paid well. But Covid-19 has changed all calculations."

Some said after the lockdown experience in Kota, parents would be wary of sending their children to other states. (Express photo/Gajendra Yadav)

In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak and the ongoing lockdown, several teachers from Bihar currently attached to premier coaching institutes in education hubs such as Kota are thinking of returning to their home state, even if it means earning less.

Last month, four teachers quit their jobs with coaching centres for engineering entrance exams at Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Bengaluru and joined a Purnea-based coaching institute. They are currently taking online classes.

Prashant Shanker, coordinator of the Purnea-based institute, told The Indian Express, “Four reputed teachers hailing from Bihar and working outside have joined us. At least three Bihar teachers currently attached with institutes in Kota are also in touch. Once the lockdown is lifted and the Covid-19 outbreak subsides, things will get crystalised.”

Shanker, an engineer who has worked with a leading company that manufactures air-conditioners, returned to Bihar five years ago. “It is just about good infrastructure, faculty and winning the confidence of students and their parents. Then it is a matter of time before students from Bihar towns start staying back,” said Shanker.

Uday Kumar Rai, who taught Physics at Vizag and returned to his Patna home a month ago, said, “I had been teaching at Vizag since 2015. But the Covid fear has shaken me. I want to be close to home.”

He said two of his colleagues in Vizag, Umang Singh and Abhay Kumar, have returned to Jharkhand and West Bengal, respectively.

Dhiraj Kumar Mishra, also from Patna, has taught at coaching institutes in Kota and Bengaluru. “I had started teaching at Patna, but was not getting a good salary. I left for Kota and started getting paid well. But Covid has changed all calculations. I came home and believe local institutes have a great future. Almost 80-90 per cent faculty in Kota is from UP and Bihar. The Kota model will dismantle now as parents would be scared to send children outside their states,” said Mishra. He said he does not mind earning less as long as he can stay in his hometown.

Vikas Kumar Jha from Madhubani completed his engineering degree from Lucknow and had been teaching Mathematics in Assam’s Bongaigaon. Now back to his home state, he said, “Having taught outside Bihar, I have realised that infrastructure, faculty and education discipline are key to the success of coaching centres. Bihar only needs to inculcate this discipline in its coaching centres,” said Jha.

While Patna is the main coaching hub for engineering entrance exams in Bihar, centres have been coming up in the towns of Purnea, Bhagalpur, Gaya and Muzaffarpur too.